DDA

Dennis Dart 29 T129EFJ is currently at Hants & Dorset to be brought up to full DDA compliance. Others will also be making the journey over the coming weeks.
Long term off road 413 PL51LGJ is now back in service.

Sold

There are 4 buses sold to Target Travel.424 X558EGK Already with Target
423 X557EGK collected by Target Travel 8 January 2016 - in service in Perrys advert livery with Target Travel fleetnames 422 X556EGK still at Milehouse as at 9th January
441 X705EGK still at Milehouse as at 9th January

(Target Travel info corrected 13/1 1:30pm. 422 is still at Milehouse, 424 is already with Target rather than the other way round)

22 comments:

422 was still at Milehouse yesterday (12th Jan) parked behind the Tramshed in the Lower Yard with 430, 431, 432 and 441. Mini Darts LPD265 and LPD266 were also parked with them. Withdrawn buses Mini Dart 205 and B7 438 were at the end of the yard being stripped prior to scrapping. Finally, Dart 59 was in the Raised Depot being stripped prior to scrapping.

It seems a shame to me that these weren't MMCs. They look plenty smart enough, of course, but it's a ten year old design and these look no different to 133-46 dating from way back in 2006 and 2008. A missed opportunity, I'm afraid.

I assume they didn't want to make the step up to the more expensive & complicated Euro 6 option yet. The MMC is only available in Euro 6 so if you want to stick with the Euro 5 you have to accept the old shape. Stagecoach have only just switched over to Euro 6 deliveries whilst Arriva & First are still splitting their orders a bit so Euro 6 is still not universal yet.

Its not an opportunity missed at all, the simple fact about it is they have over 20 Enviro 400s and some parts from them can be used on the Enviro 200(65 plates). As well as that its easier to train all your engineers, drivers on one standard designs instead of having the "old" and "New MMC" designs, it reduces costs and paperwork. So its not such much that they probably didn't want to have the new designs, its because its such a small fleet of new buses compared to London, Oxford, Newcastle it makes sense to keep things the same as much as possible.

Cheaper to buy (10-15% less per bus) and much cheaper to run, my employers have some recent E200s which are delivering fuel consumption figures 50% better than we experience on heavyweight single-deckers like the Volvos.

The Volvo Wright's B7s are 12 odd metres long, and this massively restricts their possible uses on routes. They are far too big for lots of Plymouth routes, so with the much shorter length, this may well have been a big factor. You also have to remember suitable secondary routes for them; those Volvo's are now on the 42/A/B/C etc instead of what was the 43, so planning where they can go later in live

154 was 1st. the eclipses were ordered under andrew wickham. originally pcb wanted the then latest citaro, but mercedes wouldn't change the seating arrangement to 2+1, so they went to volvo instead, hence the eclipse.

424 X558 EGK Could Be Out In Service Next Week Ive Been Told By A Driver,Buts Thats Only If The Repaint Is Complete By Then So I Could Possibly Be Seen On The 46/47 And Schools For Anyone Who Wants To See It, Thats Its Due Date Anyway So You Never Know

Looks like the withdrawal of the next batch of CityBus Darts might have started. Parked in the 'scrapline' (with withdrawn 205 and 438) in the Lower Yard at Milehouse on 30th January were 31, (just re-engined?) 33, 37, 38, 39 & 40. B7s 420 & 421 were parked at the back of the tramshed with 430, 431, 432 & 441 and the two MPDs LDP265 & LDP266. 59 was still being stripped in the raised depot and 416 was parked nearby. It looked as though the latter may be being brought back into service as a driver trainer (it was fitted with 'L' plates) but I could be wrong.

On Saturday 30 January 2016 I was travelling through Eastleigh and Citybus Dart 29 still in full livery was being refuelled at the filling station used by Xelabus near to their Barton Park depot. Unfortunately I was not driving so on the way back I couldn't divert to the depot for a look to see if it was there.